Proposed Force Structure for the Australian Army to Perform Maneuver Operations in the Littoral Environment within the Region of Interest.

摘要

At the commencement of the 21st century, Australia finds itself questioning the employment of its military and once again seeking to define its role in an environment characterized by threats from nonstate actors and the advent of successive coalition wars in the Middle East. The world, and in particular Australia's region of the world, is characterized by areas of complex terrain in which jungle and increasingly urban terrain figure prominently. However, the need to meet national interests in an operational environment of terrorism and regional threats while performing the dual concepts of Maneuver Operations in the Littoral Environment (MOLE) and control operations doctrine requires a more robust force structure to meet those threats. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the doctrine of MOLE and control operations against a regional threat, and to develop force structure recommendations to conduct MOLE in the complex terrain of Australia's region of interest. The primary research question this thesis will investigate is What is the optimal force structure of an Australian brigade conducting MOLE in region. This question incorporates several secondary questions to inform force structure for future operations in the region: (1) Is the control operations concept complementary to the MOLE concept for the successful conduct of operations in the Region of Interest (ROI), particularly in complex urban terrain; (2) How is the ROI defined in terms of state and government organizations, civil agencies, population, geography, and threats; (3) Does current Australian strategic guidance reflect global changes as a result of the war on terror and what, if any, changes are required in force structure to operate against those threats; and (4) How can recent experiences of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, United Kingdom, and French Armies inform Australian Army doctrine and structuring of forces for the performance of MOLE in the ROI. (9 figures, 44 refs.).